ElderCarelink Blog

Hall of Fame basketball coach Pat Summitt has found a way to put the perfect spin on National Alzheimer’s Awareness Month. She, along with her son Tyler, has created a foundation that will provide grants to nonprofit organizations that research Alzheimer’s. In August, Summitt was diagnosed with early onset dementia of the Alzheimer’s type. Summitt has vowed to continue coaching, both because she wants to keep doing what she loves, and because she is passionate about demonstrating to others that life isn’t over when a dementia diagnosis is received.

Basketball legend Pat Summitt reported her Alzheimer’s diagnosis last August to the public nearly as soon as she knew she had the disease. Summitt, who has 1,000+ career wins, 15 SEC championships, 8 national championships and an unrelenting, competitive spirit, has treated her diagnosis as another challenge.

It’s bound to happen. When any disease is discussed frequently in the news, people begin to look for signs of it in themselves and others. Alzheimer’s (AD) has been in news headlines nearly every week for months, since huge numbers of aging boomers are increasingly at risk. Alzheimer’s typically strikes individuals over the age of 65. However, Pat Summitt’s public announcement of her early onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis–at age 59–has not only left millions of fans stunned, it has younger people peering into their brains, anxious to learn if something sinister is happening to them as well.

A combination of intelligence, drive, competitiveness and leadership, all in a homespun Southern voice that took women’s basketball (and women’s sports in general) from forgotten to the forefront.

These words, written by Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports, beautifully describe Tennessee Lady Vols’ basketball coach, Pat Summitt, who–at age 59–has been diagnosed with early “onset dementia, Alzheimer’s type.” Summitt had experienced months of what she labeled “erratic behavior” before she scheduled an examination at the Mayo Clinic last May. This type of diagnosis is life changing at any age, but at age 59, the effect is even more unnerving.